Considering the hype around Symprove, particularly from celebs and wellness influencers, I wanted to find out whether or not this probiotic was just another fad. I wrestle with many gut issues, IBS and GERD being the main culprits, so I am the prime candidate for testing it out!
In this Symprove review, I will detail the impact that this liquid probiotic had on my gut issues over 6 months. Including my bloating, gas, diarrhoea, abdominal pains, spasms, indigestion, and acid reflux – yeah, it’s a lot. Not to mention my depression, anxiety, and eczema as well.
I have seen promising results with it managing my IBS symptoms and breaking the vicious ‘bad mental health = bad gut health’ cycle. But as with anything, it has its limits. Nor will it work for absolutely everyone.
So, before reading, I urge you to ask yourself whether you need a supplement. If you struggle with persistent gut problems (which you’ve talked to a health professional about) then it’s worth a shot. However, if you’re simply looking to boost your overall gut health, focus on a diet rich in probiotic foods instead.
Pros
- It has relieved my IBS symptoms
- It has improved my mental health
- It has helped my skin conditions
- I found it easy to take
Cons
- It can cause side effects
- It is a little pricey
What is Symprove?
Symprove is a water-based food supplement that delivers live bacteria straight to your gut. You take a shot every morning, 10 minutes before eating or drinking anything (but you don’t have to eat anything 10 minutes after), allowing you to get on with your day with a happy microbiome and mind! Whilst they don’t call themselves a probiotic, due to European food laws, technically they contain probiotics and are used as such.
Their supplement is made up of four unique and scientifically proven strains of healthy bacteria:
- Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus (l rhamnosus)
- Enterococcus faecium (e faecium)
- Lactobacillus acidophilus (l acidophilus)
- Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (l plantarum)
Symprove has a higher chance of reaching your gut undisturbed by the digestive process because the active bacteria come in liquid form. This in turn can help you manage symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Ulcerative Colitis, Acid Reflux, and much more.
My experience with Symprove
I’ll start by breaking my Symprove journey down month-by-month, before going into more detail about how it helped my IBS, my skin, and my mental health. I’ll also cover issues surrounding the detox period, the taste, and the cost.
How quickly does Symprove work?
A lot of people will start seeing results in the first 4 weeks of taking Symprove. But for some people, it can take at least 12 weeks before their gut starts to reap the benefits, particularly if your microbiome is in a bad state! Here is how quickly Symprove worked for me, month by month:
- Month 1: After an initial couple of days where I was visiting the toilet a lot more regularly (the detox period), I started to bloat less and found myself feeling less sick after eating. My GERD symptoms started to reduce.
- Month 2: I continued to see reductions in bloating and excess gas. I would occasionally have minor flare-ups when eating trigger foods but they became a lot more manageable and weren’t as debilitating.
- Month 3: I barely had any IBS symptoms, even after eating trigger foods like bread and pasta. The key thing I noticed was how my abdominal spasms had disappeared. My stools were looking healthy and normal again.
- Month 4: Areas of my skin that were usually covered in eczema were starting to clear up. I had less flaky skin and the redness was greatly reduced. I continued to enjoy fewer IBS flare-ups, although during stressful times I would potentially still experience some abdominal pains and bloating. But generally, I found these quick and easy to get over.
- Month 5: My mental health had improved significantly. I was experiencing fewer anxious thoughts and my depressive episodes had reduced greatly. I also believe my immune system was working more effectively as I hadn’t been sick for months now.
- Month 6: Overall, I found my body to function as it used to, pre-IBS. My brain fog had lifted and working was so much easier. I could go eat out at restaurants again with fewer repercussions. However, I was still prone to flare-ups but I recovered quickly.
It has helped to break that vicious cycle of ‘bad mental health = bad gut health = bad mental health’. But it is worth noting that it hasn’t cured my IBS. Instead, it has helped to rebalance the bacteria in my microbiome to ensure that it is well-prepared for when I am stressed (and releasing excess cortisol).
What happens when you stop taking Symprove?
After the 6 months were up, I decided to stop taking Symprove. Mostly because I felt great, but also because I wanted to find out what would happen if I stopped.
I made sure to eat a variety of plants every week (at least 30 types), as well as plenty of fermented foods. Because of this, not much happened when I stopped taking Symprove. I was still introducing plenty of bacteria into my gut regularly, and it was a lot more varied and natural.
Symprove is made up of four different bacteria strains, yet your microbiome can contain hundreds. Many of which we can introduce into our gut by eating a varied diet.
The problem was, if I suffered another IBS flare-up (usually because of my mental health), then fermented foods went out the window. So many of them are trigger foods for me. This is why I have reached for that bottle of Symprove on numerous occasions since stopping.
What are the side effects of Symprove?
You may experience some initial side effects when taking Symprove. These side effects can include diarrhoea or looser stools. Which simply means you may be visiting the toilet a little more frequently than normal. But it can also make your existing gut issues temporarily worse.
When I first started taking Symprove I found myself visiting the toilet a little too regularly. I have IBS-D, so I’m no stranger to the toilet. Thankfully, this calmed down after the first week.
If you do experience any side effects they should start to normalise after just a few days as your gut gets used to the live bacteria. And if you do end up experiencing any, know that it means that the probiotics are getting to work!
Can Symprove help with IBS?
Multiple scientific studies have proven the effectiveness of Symprove in reducing symptoms of both IBS-C and IBS-D. For example, this study on BMJ found a far greater reduction in those who took the supplement, versus those on a placebo. Similar results were found by UCL.
About my IBS diagnosis
I was diagnosed with IBS in 2022 after to-ing and fro-ing with my GP for quite some months. I originally went to them after experiencing persistent abdominal spasms, painful bloating, and daily diarrhoea. They tested my blood for all sorts of gut-related issues but it all came back negative. After further testing and appointments with my GP, he decided that it was IBS and put me on a low FODMAP diet. This was tough, but did open my eyes to specific food triggers (predominantly fructans). However, it is tough cutting out fructans, amongst other carbohydrates. Hence finding myself here, testing Symprove’s liquid probiotic supplement.
I’ve read other Symprove reviews that quote the science, but as someone who has been diagnosed with IBS, I can also share my own experience with you. Symprove has helped to rebalance my gut microbiome with a variety of friendly bacteria after many tricky IBS flare-ups. This has helped with the following symptoms:
- No bloating first thing in the morning before food
- No bloating straight after eating food
- No abdominal pains or spasms throughout the day
- More solid poos and no more diarrhoea
- Less excess gas
- A huge reduction in acid reflux and indigestion (from GERD)
Although, it is worth noting that it hasn’t cured my IBS. But it does make it a lot more manageable by dulling down the symptoms.
What has helped to avoid future IBS flare-ups is a mixture of talking therapy and diet. I followed an elimination diet (low FODMAP) to discover my trigger foods, which has been a game changer. But things don’t always go well, so Symprove is always there to support me when it doesn’t.
Does Symprove improve your mood?
Your gut produces about 95% of the body’s total serotonin which I found to be a completely mindblowing statistic. So, when your gut isn’t healthy, nor are your serotonin levels (read more about the gut-mind connection here). Therefore, it should come as no surprise that people who suffer from gut-related health conditions like IBS and IBD also suffer from health conditions like anxiety and depression.
After 4 months of taking Symprove, my gut was causing me a lot less grief, and the rest of my body was finally given the space to heal. My mind began feeling clearer and I found I was less stressed and anxious.
Undoubtedly, this was helped massively by the fact that I didn’t need to worry about how my gut would react in public. Allowing me to enjoy eating out and going for drinks again.
I didn’t realise just how much my gut was impacting my mental health until I balanced out the bacteria in my microbiome, using Symprove. Other probiotic supplements simply haven’t been able to help to this extent. As cheesy as it sounds, I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time. It’s probably all that serotonin being produced by my now happy gut!
Does Symprove improve skin?
The inflammation in your gut can have a knock-on effect on the inflammation of your skin (see scientific study). Therefore, since it effectively reduces gut inflammation, Symprove may help you manage eczema and psoriasis.
I have struggled with a mix of skin conditions throughout my life, including eczema. And I figured out that whenever my gut was in a bad place, so were my skin conditions.
After taking Symprove for over 3 months, my skin became less flakey, itchy and red. Plus it has now stopped spreading to new areas. Now, I won’t claim that Symprove got rid of my eczema. Because, well, it didn’t. But it has helped to keep the inflammation of these areas down.
If you notice your skin health worsens when your gut is in a bad place, it may be worth considering giving Symprove a go to see if it can help calm down that irritation.
What does Symprove taste like?
You may have heard that the taste of Symprove isn’t too great. But having tried all of the flavours, I can confirm that they are all pleasantly neutral with a slight kombucha flavour to them. Here are the flavours that you can buy Symprove in:
The ‘Strawberry & Raspberry’ flavour is my favourite, it has a slight fruity tang which I enjoy. Almost kombucha-esque. The ‘Mango & Passionfruit’ flavour is also great, particularly if you love tropical flavours like me. But I also find the original flavour to be fine. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t choose to drink pints of the stuff, but they are all really easy to stomach.
Is Symprove expensive?
There is no denying that Symprove is a little pricey. A one-month supply of Symprove will cost you £49.99 when you sign up for a flexible monthly subscription.
It pretty much costs double the amount of many powdered probiotic capsules. But when a probiotic supplement is as effective as this one, it is clear that it is worth every penny. Their scientifically-backed probiotic is the only one on the market to arrive, survive, and thrive in the gut.
If you are concerned about the cost, do make the most out of my 50% discount making it £25.00 for the first 3 months (follow the link to automatically apply the discount). 3 months is the perfect amount of time to figure out whether Symprove works for you!
This makes Symprove cheaper than some of the alternatives, like Ritual’s Synbiotic+ (prebiotics plus probiotics) which will set you back £50 a month. You can also find cheaper alternatives, like Wild Dose‘s anti-bloating pills. But the results of taking this powdered probiotic long-term won’t be quite as impressive as with Symprove.
My Verdict
As Professor Simon Gaisford (the Head of Pharmaceutics at UCL School of Pharmacy) notes: “Symprove is different from other probiotics because it is water-based, which means it limits exposure to gastric juices and digestive enzymes”.
This explains why Symprove is the only probiotic supplement that has worked and alleviated many of my gut issues. Not only has it improved my poo schedule, but I now also experience less bloating and gas, no abdominal pains, and fewer colon spasms after eating. This was all within the first 12 weeks!
Moreover, The Gut Health Doctor says, “There is hope for probiotics in managing mental health” after one study in 2013 found significant improvements in brain activity of participants who took probiotics for 4 weeks. So I am not surprised that after 4 months of taking Symprove, my brain fog lifted and my anxiety levels had reduced significantly.
However, not everyone needs to take a probiotic supplement. Dr. Ruscio says you should first try eating a healthy diet and then if “you’re still not experiencing relief from your health symptoms“, you may want to consider taking Symprove. Your gut microbiome may well need a helping hand and eating a healthy diet may not cut it on its own. This was the case for me!
After seeing significant improvements after 6 months, I stopped taking Symprove. The positive effects haven’t reversed yet but I do make sure to eat a varied plant-based diet which includes plenty of fermented foods.
That being said, it hasn’t cured my gut issues. Rather, it has helped me to manage the symptoms. So when my IBS flares up again in the future, I will be relying on Symprove to get me through.
“Symprove is a brilliant product. I had digestion problems for many years, have had all sorts of tests and procedures and been prescribed all sorts of different things. Nothing changed until I started taking Symprove. Now I have no problems, and no discomfort or symptoms, and eating has become a pleasure again” – Brian (approved customer), Trustpilot
Alternatives to Symprove
When it comes to probiotics Symprove is easily the most effective, but understandably, also one of the most expensive. It could also be that this particular supplement doesn’t work out for you, so it is good to know that there are alternatives out there. Here are some suggestions on Symprove alternatives:
- For gluten intolerance: Discover the power of Juvia
- For bloating relief: Discover Wild Dose’s affordable Anti-Bloating capsules
- For different bacteria strains: Check out these amazing probiotic supplements
- For natural relief: Try eating these fermented foods rich in probiotics
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